Feb. 09--A Northern California man is accused of pouring gasoline on his girlfriend and setting her on fire during an argument, authorities said.
Late Thursday, El Dorado County Sheriff's Deputies responded to reports of a woman screaming in the community of Cameron Park, about 30 miles east of Sacramento.
Sheriff's deputies found a woman with serious burns to her lower body, the department said in a statement. Curtis Menezes, the woman's boyfriend, is accused of setting her on fire.
Menezes, 28, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a caustic chemical.
The woman was taken to an emergency room burn unit, deputies said.
"If the burns had been more severe, we would have arrested him for attempted murder," said Lt. Jim Byers, spokesman for the sheriff's department. "From the waist down, her legs were burned."
Menezes was being held on $100,000 bail at Placerville jail.
sarah.parvini@latimes.com
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